Maud Wagner
Maud Stevens Wagner (February 1877 – January 30, 1961) was a circus performer and the first known female tattoo artist in the United States.
Life and career
Wagner was born in 1877, in Lyon County, Kansas, to David Van Buran Stevens and Sarah Jane McGee.
Wagner was an aerialist and contortionist, working in numerous traveling circuses. She met Gus Wagner—a tattoo artist who described himself as "the most artistically marked up man in America" while traveling with circuses and sideshows—at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World's Fair) in 1904, where she was working as an aerialist. She exchanged a romantic date with him for a lesson in tattooing, and several years later they were married. Together they had a daughter, Lovetta, who started tattooing at the age of nine and went on to become a tattoo artist herself.
As an apprentice of her husband, Wagner learned how to give traditional "hand-poked" tattoos—despite the invention of the tattoo machine—and became a tattooist herself. Together, the Wagners were two of the last tattoo artists to work by hand, without the aid of modern tattoo machines. Maud Wagner was the United States' first known female tattoo artist.
After leaving the circus, Maud and Gus Wagner traveled around the United States, working both as tattoo artists and "tattooed attractions" in vaudeville houses, county fairs and amusement arcades. They are credited with bringing tattoo artistry inland, away from the coastal cities and towns where the practice had started.
Death
Maud Wagner died on January 30, 1961 in Lawton, Oklahoma.
From Wikipedia
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HOLD RITES AT HOMESTEAD FOR MRS. MAUDE WAGNER
Graveside funeral services for Mrs. Maude S. Wagner, who died Saturday at her home in Lawton, Okla., were held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Homestead cemetery. Mrs. Belle Bond officiated. The pallbearers were David Mercer, Alfred Mercer, Lee Gurney, John Gurney, Cecil Yoakem and Albert Odle.
Maude Stevens was born February 12, 1877 in Emporia, a daughter of David and Sarah Stevens. She was married to Gus Wagner in St. Louis, Mo., on October 3, 1904. Mr. Wagner died in 1941. The Wagners lived for many years in the Homestead vicinity. For the last 12 years Mrs. Wagner had made her home with a daughter, Mrs. Lovetta Davis in Lawton, who is her only immediate survivor. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Sarah J., and a sister, Dora.
Those attending from Lawton, Okla., were R. E. Davis, Mrs. C. A. Elkins, G. P. Horton, Lee Sever, and C. B. Falley. The group was at the Alfred Mercer home for lunch following the services.
Maud Stevens Wagner (February 1877 – January 30, 1961) was a circus performer and the first known female tattoo artist in the United States.
Life and career
Wagner was born in 1877, in Lyon County, Kansas, to David Van Buran Stevens and Sarah Jane McGee.
Wagner was an aerialist and contortionist, working in numerous traveling circuses. She met Gus Wagner—a tattoo artist who described himself as "the most artistically marked up man in America" while traveling with circuses and sideshows—at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World's Fair) in 1904, where she was working as an aerialist. She exchanged a romantic date with him for a lesson in tattooing, and several years later they were married. Together they had a daughter, Lovetta, who started tattooing at the age of nine and went on to become a tattoo artist herself.
As an apprentice of her husband, Wagner learned how to give traditional "hand-poked" tattoos—despite the invention of the tattoo machine—and became a tattooist herself. Together, the Wagners were two of the last tattoo artists to work by hand, without the aid of modern tattoo machines. Maud Wagner was the United States' first known female tattoo artist.
After leaving the circus, Maud and Gus Wagner traveled around the United States, working both as tattoo artists and "tattooed attractions" in vaudeville houses, county fairs and amusement arcades. They are credited with bringing tattoo artistry inland, away from the coastal cities and towns where the practice had started.
Death
Maud Wagner died on January 30, 1961 in Lawton, Oklahoma.
From Wikipedia
*************************************
HOLD RITES AT HOMESTEAD FOR MRS. MAUDE WAGNER
Graveside funeral services for Mrs. Maude S. Wagner, who died Saturday at her home in Lawton, Okla., were held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Homestead cemetery. Mrs. Belle Bond officiated. The pallbearers were David Mercer, Alfred Mercer, Lee Gurney, John Gurney, Cecil Yoakem and Albert Odle.
Maude Stevens was born February 12, 1877 in Emporia, a daughter of David and Sarah Stevens. She was married to Gus Wagner in St. Louis, Mo., on October 3, 1904. Mr. Wagner died in 1941. The Wagners lived for many years in the Homestead vicinity. For the last 12 years Mrs. Wagner had made her home with a daughter, Mrs. Lovetta Davis in Lawton, who is her only immediate survivor. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Sarah J., and a sister, Dora.
Those attending from Lawton, Okla., were R. E. Davis, Mrs. C. A. Elkins, G. P. Horton, Lee Sever, and C. B. Falley. The group was at the Alfred Mercer home for lunch following the services.
Maud Wagner
Maud Stevens Wagner (February 1877 – January 30, 1961) was a circus performer and the first known female tattoo artist in the United States.
Life and career
Wagner was born in 1877, in Lyon County, Kansas, to David Van Buran Stevens and Sarah Jane McGee.
Wagner was an aerialist and contortionist, working in numerous traveling circuses. She met Gus Wagner—a tattoo artist who described himself as "the most artistically marked up man in America" while traveling with circuses and sideshows—at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World's Fair) in 1904, where she was working as an aerialist. She exchanged a romantic date with him for a lesson in tattooing, and several years later they were married. Together they had a daughter, Lovetta, who started tattooing at the age of nine and went on to become a tattoo artist herself.
As an apprentice of her husband, Wagner learned how to give traditional "hand-poked" tattoos—despite the invention of the tattoo machine—and became a tattooist herself. Together, the Wagners were two of the last tattoo artists to work by hand, without the aid of modern tattoo machines. Maud Wagner was the United States' first known female tattoo artist.
After leaving the circus, Maud and Gus Wagner traveled around the United States, working both as tattoo artists and "tattooed attractions" in vaudeville houses, county fairs and amusement arcades. They are credited with bringing tattoo artistry inland, away from the coastal cities and towns where the practice had started.
Death
Maud Wagner died on January 30, 1961 in Lawton, Oklahoma.
From Wikipedia
*************************************
HOLD RITES AT HOMESTEAD FOR MRS. MAUDE WAGNER
Graveside funeral services for Mrs. Maude S. Wagner, who died Saturday at her home in Lawton, Okla., were held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Homestead cemetery. Mrs. Belle Bond officiated. The pallbearers were David Mercer, Alfred Mercer, Lee Gurney, John Gurney, Cecil Yoakem and Albert Odle.
Maude Stevens was born February 12, 1877 in Emporia, a daughter of David and Sarah Stevens. She was married to Gus Wagner in St. Louis, Mo., on October 3, 1904. Mr. Wagner died in 1941. The Wagners lived for many years in the Homestead vicinity. For the last 12 years Mrs. Wagner had made her home with a daughter, Mrs. Lovetta Davis in Lawton, who is her only immediate survivor. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Sarah J., and a sister, Dora.
Those attending from Lawton, Okla., were R. E. Davis, Mrs. C. A. Elkins, G. P. Horton, Lee Sever, and C. B. Falley. The group was at the Alfred Mercer home for lunch following the services.
Maud Stevens Wagner (February 1877 – January 30, 1961) was a circus performer and the first known female tattoo artist in the United States.
Life and career
Wagner was born in 1877, in Lyon County, Kansas, to David Van Buran Stevens and Sarah Jane McGee.
Wagner was an aerialist and contortionist, working in numerous traveling circuses. She met Gus Wagner—a tattoo artist who described himself as "the most artistically marked up man in America" while traveling with circuses and sideshows—at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (World's Fair) in 1904, where she was working as an aerialist. She exchanged a romantic date with him for a lesson in tattooing, and several years later they were married. Together they had a daughter, Lovetta, who started tattooing at the age of nine and went on to become a tattoo artist herself.
As an apprentice of her husband, Wagner learned how to give traditional "hand-poked" tattoos—despite the invention of the tattoo machine—and became a tattooist herself. Together, the Wagners were two of the last tattoo artists to work by hand, without the aid of modern tattoo machines. Maud Wagner was the United States' first known female tattoo artist.
After leaving the circus, Maud and Gus Wagner traveled around the United States, working both as tattoo artists and "tattooed attractions" in vaudeville houses, county fairs and amusement arcades. They are credited with bringing tattoo artistry inland, away from the coastal cities and towns where the practice had started.
Death
Maud Wagner died on January 30, 1961 in Lawton, Oklahoma.
From Wikipedia
*************************************
HOLD RITES AT HOMESTEAD FOR MRS. MAUDE WAGNER
Graveside funeral services for Mrs. Maude S. Wagner, who died Saturday at her home in Lawton, Okla., were held at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Homestead cemetery. Mrs. Belle Bond officiated. The pallbearers were David Mercer, Alfred Mercer, Lee Gurney, John Gurney, Cecil Yoakem and Albert Odle.
Maude Stevens was born February 12, 1877 in Emporia, a daughter of David and Sarah Stevens. She was married to Gus Wagner in St. Louis, Mo., on October 3, 1904. Mr. Wagner died in 1941. The Wagners lived for many years in the Homestead vicinity. For the last 12 years Mrs. Wagner had made her home with a daughter, Mrs. Lovetta Davis in Lawton, who is her only immediate survivor. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Sarah J., and a sister, Dora.
Those attending from Lawton, Okla., were R. E. Davis, Mrs. C. A. Elkins, G. P. Horton, Lee Sever, and C. B. Falley. The group was at the Alfred Mercer home for lunch following the services.
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